1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to alcohol fuels for internal combustion engines. In particular, this invention is directed to alcohol fuel containing an anticorrosion additive whereby the metallic e.g. iron-containing structures in the fuel storage-introduction and combustion means are subjected to reduced corrosivity from said fuel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present-day energy crisis resulting from the increased demand for petroleum products and the consequential economic drain from those countries has caused them to search of gasoline with such alcohols as methanol and alkanol.
Both methanol and ethanol are two simple alcohols that are well-suited for automotive engine operation. In present-day applications, mixtures of gasoline and small amounts of said alcohols are readily used to provide for efficient operation of automotive engines with less offensive emission products. In some countries such as Brazil, Argentina and the U.S.A., to satisfy their future fuel needs, it is likely that blends of alcohol and gasoline will yield to all alcohol blends.
The production of alcohol from natural sources such as methanol from wood and ethanol from sugar cane, grain and cassava appears to generally result in acid contamination which is corrosive to those metal containment structures for said alkanol fuel. The corrosive nature of natural ethanol fuels has been reported to provoke carburetor deposits of iron-containing salts (see "Experiences With the Utilization of Ethanol/Gasoline and Pure Ethanol in Brazilian Passenger Cars" by G. Pischinger and N.L.M. Pinto). Unfortunately, alkanol fuels from cellulosic sources are limited in their utilization as fuels for internal combustion engines until the metal, particularly iron, corrosion is reduced.